Go on social media these days and you're bombarded with ads and influencers

touting all sorts of products promising to rid you of digestive tract complaints

supplements, juice cleansers, diets, all promoting what's broadly called gut health.

And indeed, cases of inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer are on the rise.

And a 2023 survey for a health care company found that two-thirds of those questions said

they have symptoms like gas, bloating, and abdominal pain on a regular basis.

But how do we separate the facts from the fads?

Dr Shazia Sadiq is an assistant professor of

Gastroentrology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

She's also on the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American Gastroentrological Association.

Dr. Cadek, why all this attention? Why all this focus on gut health?

Well, we're definitely seeing a rise in gastrointestinal diseases globally over the past two decades from

250 million cases back in 1990 to now more than 440 million cases and

digestive diseases can range from heartburn to

hemorrhoids to colon cancer and especially recently what we're seeing is

an uptick in colorectal cancer, particularly among young individuals,

and it's the leading cause of cancer death in men under 50.

Is there any explanation for that rise?

Well, what we're seeing globally is that there are many factors associated with it. One is a Western diet, one that is high in fast food, processed foods, more meat, less diverse vegetables, and then there are other lifestyle factors like alcohol conception, tobacco use, and also more sedentary

behavior.

And how does gut health affect overall health?

Well, it is interesting that emerging research on the gut microbiome, which are the

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